After Earth's Fall | ✔ UNDERGOING CONSTRUCTION

Chapter 5

Nila awakes, gasping for clean oxygen in the thick, hot and polluted air that surrounds her – wrapping its grimy, suffocating hands around her throat. The first sight she is met with is the dust-riddles, grey-clouded sky above her; void of any sign of the sun. She finds herself lying down on a dirty, cracked bitumen road; sharp rocks dig vengefully into her spine and Nila bolts upright.

In the distance, Nila can hear coughing and wheezing and looks to see that the rest of the group have also awoken. They seem to be gathered in the middle of a demolished and destroyed urban street on Earth. Nila should feel excited, though she knows that this isn't real. If anything, she feels frightened with a side of nauseous. This desolate, ominous street is far from the picturesque, lively Earth she had in mind. Nila's breathing hitches as she takes in the sight around her. It all feels so lonely. Is this really what it looks like down there? What it would have looked like after Pandora's Box went off?

She can see signs or parts of them hanging off by their hinges from quaint, tightly-packed buildings typically displaying the words "hotel" or "restaurant". Some are made of carved stone, others made of bricks and wood which may have one day styled vibrant colours; but now, every building is a grim grey. Many of the buildings appear to be shops and apartments. One sign that squeaks in the wind attatched to a rusted pole above a building's door says, 'All electronic appliances 10% OFF!'. A pet store with photographs of puppies and kittens on its walls has its windows smashed to pieces and straw litters across the window sill. Nila can only imagine how beautiful and lovely this place would've been in its former glory.

"Where on Earth are we?" Kaitlyn groans and complains, rubbing her thigh which she scratched against the road when she went to stand up.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Nila looks over to Riley who seems to hear the beeping too and notices a small, white device at his feet resembling a phone of sorts. From what the screen shows, various lines of roads and alleyways, it seems to be a GPS.

"Guys!" Riley yells.

The group huddles together to get a good look at the device Riley's holding.

"Uh, I think this is a GPS."

"But where do they want us to go?" Anna asks and suddenly, a video pops up on the screen.

"Well...go on, play it!" Kaitlyn demands, starting to get a bit impatient as Riley's fingers hover idly over the screen.

The boy wipes his fingers across the glass to rid of some of the silt and dust that has already begun to accumulate on the screen and presses play. A woman appears, sitting at a very formal desk. She has long blonde hair and hazel eyes, wearing a creasless white blouse. The lady gives the smallest of smiles then fixes up her petite, clear-rimmed glasses.

"Hello, Nila, Riley, Anna and Kaitlyn. Congratulations on making it into the second round of the Draw. Now, training is going to get a bit harder as you can see. This will be a group test, meaning you have to stick together. This GPS that you're holding, as of now, is your most prized possession. Your task is to navigate the group out of the radiation zone and back to civilisation. You have one day, Earth time. Good luck."

The woman disappears and a streak of green fills in the streets and roads that they need to travel through in order to get out of the radiation zone.

"Seems easy enough," Nila says and shrugs.

The group exchange some glances and nods before Riley places the GPS in one of the pockets of his pants; declaring himself the router of the group.

With that, the group grabs any bags or supplies that have been left for them to take. Feeling the need to prove herself to the group and do something productive, Nila spots a wide black bag nestled under a car covered in a blanket of ash. Bingo. She jogs over, gets on her hands and knees and reaches to grab it, her fingertips inches away from the black material. However before she can get a grasp on it, a long, feminine leg sweeps it out from underneath her.